I have finally recovered from the shock of being OOD at a very well supported Loch Tummel and have produced the following report:-
Thirty nine Toppers gathered at Loch Tummel for the final leg of the 2009 Travellers trophy and also to sail the second leg of the 2009 Scottish Inland Championships which had begun at Loch Vennacher in April. The event was hosted jointly with travellers for Optimists, Solo’s Europes, Lasers, Radials, 4.7 and a small handicap fleet. This made for just over 100 boats on the main course sailing trapezoid courses with varying numbers of inner and outer loops.
Thirty nine Toppers gathered at Loch Tummel for the final leg of the 2009 Travellers trophy and also to sail the second leg of the 2009 Scottish Inland Championships which had begun at Loch Vennacher in April. The event was hosted jointly with travellers for Optimists, Solo’s Europes, Lasers, Radials, 4.7 and a small handicap fleet. This made for just over 100 boats on the main course sailing trapezoid courses with varying numbers of inner and outer loops.
The travellers Trophy has been a close battle between arch rivals Jamie Noyes and Alexander Still this year and the two close rivals could not wait to get on with the action. (see picture)
The Toppers were away first in each start sequence and sailing mostly the outer loop. A light westerly wind built to a good force 3, occasionally 4, shortly after the start. Race one was dominated by Samantha Foster, clearly enjoying home waters for once who led from the first leeward mark and held a clear lead to the finish. Kyle Maxwell Cox led the chasing pack from Alexander “Chuckie” Still.
Race two looked like a replay of Race one with Samantha in commanding form slipping past Chuckie and Kyle up the second beat to round the inner loop windward mark clear ahead. Unfortunately the rest of the fleet were correctly sailing the outer loop course. Kyle led to the finish followed by Chuckie then Jamie Noyes. Samantha recovered to sixth by the end.
Race three and Samantha was clearly taking no chances with the course. Finding herself in the leading pack again she “death rolled” and capsized. Now in virtually last place she had plenty of boats to follow but could only recover to 16th. Chuckie was leading the fleet home, this time holding off a strong challenge from Rory Kilgore and Jessica Campbell. Jamie was 4th and Kyle seemed to be doing the gentlemanly thing, waiting for Sammi and finished 5th!
With 103 boats across 7 fleets and 18 starts we all retired to the beach whilst I tried to make sense of the results!
Sunday dawned with a flat calm and then a gentle Easterly zephyr. The clouds however were saying different and the OOD determinedly launched the doubtful fleet at 11.15 with a warning to expect the same Westerly breeze as the day before. After nearly an hour of boat swapping and mark moving we were toying with the idea of an early lunch when the Westerly arrived as predicted at exactly 12 noon. By 12.15 Race 4 was underway. The gusty wind was swinging from West to South West and causing quite a few snakes and ladders. This time it was Jessica Campbell who made the most of it. Kyle was back on form in second and Rory made up the top three.
Race 5 and an over eager fleet led to a general recall and brought out the first black flag of the weekend. Relegated to the back of the queue the Toppers got away cleanly this time and it was Jamie Noyes who made the best of the opportunity leading the way to a comfortable win. Rory kept on the pressure with a second and Chuckie rounded of the top three. Disappointed Dad award went to me when Joanne Foster, holding her best position of the weekend tipped it over in exactly the same place that her sister had the previous day and lost 22 places!
Race 6 and there was all to play for. Five separate race winners in five races. It was Jessica who made the running in what was the lightest wind of the weekend. Chuckie came through for second with Jamie Noyes pushing him all the way. Rory and Kyle followed on and Ros made her first appearance in the top six. A major port starboard tangle at the top mark saw Sammi shut out with no way back from the middle order and a very dissapointed Aaron dropped from 2nd to 9th with a 20% scoring penalty.
The Toppers were away first in each start sequence and sailing mostly the outer loop. A light westerly wind built to a good force 3, occasionally 4, shortly after the start. Race one was dominated by Samantha Foster, clearly enjoying home waters for once who led from the first leeward mark and held a clear lead to the finish. Kyle Maxwell Cox led the chasing pack from Alexander “Chuckie” Still.
Race two looked like a replay of Race one with Samantha in commanding form slipping past Chuckie and Kyle up the second beat to round the inner loop windward mark clear ahead. Unfortunately the rest of the fleet were correctly sailing the outer loop course. Kyle led to the finish followed by Chuckie then Jamie Noyes. Samantha recovered to sixth by the end.
Race three and Samantha was clearly taking no chances with the course. Finding herself in the leading pack again she “death rolled” and capsized. Now in virtually last place she had plenty of boats to follow but could only recover to 16th. Chuckie was leading the fleet home, this time holding off a strong challenge from Rory Kilgore and Jessica Campbell. Jamie was 4th and Kyle seemed to be doing the gentlemanly thing, waiting for Sammi and finished 5th!
With 103 boats across 7 fleets and 18 starts we all retired to the beach whilst I tried to make sense of the results!
Sunday dawned with a flat calm and then a gentle Easterly zephyr. The clouds however were saying different and the OOD determinedly launched the doubtful fleet at 11.15 with a warning to expect the same Westerly breeze as the day before. After nearly an hour of boat swapping and mark moving we were toying with the idea of an early lunch when the Westerly arrived as predicted at exactly 12 noon. By 12.15 Race 4 was underway. The gusty wind was swinging from West to South West and causing quite a few snakes and ladders. This time it was Jessica Campbell who made the most of it. Kyle was back on form in second and Rory made up the top three.
Race 5 and an over eager fleet led to a general recall and brought out the first black flag of the weekend. Relegated to the back of the queue the Toppers got away cleanly this time and it was Jamie Noyes who made the best of the opportunity leading the way to a comfortable win. Rory kept on the pressure with a second and Chuckie rounded of the top three. Disappointed Dad award went to me when Joanne Foster, holding her best position of the weekend tipped it over in exactly the same place that her sister had the previous day and lost 22 places!
Race 6 and there was all to play for. Five separate race winners in five races. It was Jessica who made the running in what was the lightest wind of the weekend. Chuckie came through for second with Jamie Noyes pushing him all the way. Rory and Kyle followed on and Ros made her first appearance in the top six. A major port starboard tangle at the top mark saw Sammi shut out with no way back from the middle order and a very dissapointed Aaron dropped from 2nd to 9th with a 20% scoring penalty.
A lengthy scoring exercise followed as the results were fed into various programs to calculate the Tummel Traveller Result, the 2009 Inland Championships Result and the 2009 Scottish Topper Traveller Result.
Loch Tummel Traveller
1st Alexander Still
2nd Jessica Campbell
3rd Rory Kilgore
4th Kyle Maxwell-Cox
2009 Inland Champion
Jamie Noyes
2009 Travellers Trophy
Jamie Noyes
Full Results will be posted on sailracer and the Loch Tummel SC website.
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A fabulous season with fun for kids and adults alike. A million thanks for all the volunteers who made it all happen, the heroes who pitched in to sort anything that went wrong with any of the kit, and special thanks to the few who shouldered(sometimes much)more than their fair share of the burden.
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